At 105:111, the Lakers struggled to beat the Magic at home, preventing a further slide in the rankings.
The reason why this game was difficult was because the Lakers fell into a strange pattern of repetition in this game - the starter dug the hole, the substitute filled the hole, the starter dug the hole again, the substitute filled the hole again.
The starting five are plus-minus values: Davis-3, Russell -8, Beasley -15, Van der Biao-12, Troy Brown -8.
On the other hand, the substitution plus-minus: Schroeder +22, Reeves +25, Hachimura +4, Gabriel +25.
Strong and stark contrast.
Moreover, the Lakers' starting lineup is not as effective as the bench lineup and the transition lineup is not only in this game.
In the past six games, except for the Pelicans, the Lakers' starting lineup has almost always been lower than the bench - this phenomenon is especially frequent in Beasley, Vanderbilt and Troy Brown. (This point can be verified by looking at the schedule record)
The Lakers coaching staff has also noticed this, and they have been making corresponding adjustments: more three-guard lineups instead of Beasley and TBJ; More use of Gabe and Davis twin towers to replace the original Davis + Van der Biao combination - but for many reasons, they did not change the starting lineup.
This game is actually just a concentrated and explosive reflection of the recent problem of the Lakers.
So, through this game today, we will analyze the reasons for the recent slump in the Lakers' starting lineup and the rise of the bench.
First of all, the first problem with the starting lineup is their outside defense.
Beasley + Russell, an outside defensive combination, lacks sufficient defensive ability, which is a weakness that we have analyzed since the first game since the trade deadline, and it was reflected in the opening game today.
Facing Fultz, a talented outside attacker, Beasley was thrown away in the first round - and the Lakers followed their usual defensive strategy: flank defense, interior defense.
But that way, Davis went to fill in Fultz, and Wendell Carter left his position unattended — Carter Jr. was an interior lineman with three-point range, and giving him such a big open space meant it was a failed defensive round.
In this game, Wendell Carter hit two three-pointers - both in the Lakers' starting period.
When Anthony Davis had to stay in the rim, the Lakers had to suffer the penalty of the space five, which is a simple reason.
So what happens if Davis gets out? Let's see:
This round Davis followed Carter Jr. out of the box — in exchange for an easy score from the Magic at the basket.
Beasley made a strange mistake in this round, and he seemed to want to direct Vanderbilt to chase the defense, but when Vanderbilt was obviously blocked, he didn't realize that he should choose to change defense first, completely missing Bankelo under the basket.
Keep looking:
This round, the Lakers caught the low Benqueiro, but Banqueiro was actually just a feint, and the real offensive point was Harris, who came out to catch the ball and shoot on the weak side with double positioning cover - but even if Russell realized this, his movement was not enough to help him bypass the cover - the Magic hit a three-pointer.
So let's come back - Beasley + Russell, the outside defensive ability is not as good as Schroder + Reeves, this is known to passers-by, and the reason why the Lakers coaching staff is still willing to put these two on the court is because of their offense.
Before the Lakers lost LeBron, Russell and Beasley gave the team enough gains on the offensive end to offset the debuffs they brought on the defensive end — but now, the problem is that they are not working on the offensive end.
We break it down one by one through this game:
This is the first time the Lakers have scored in this game. We can see that this round, the Lakers' tactics are Russell and Davis to block and dismantle, Van der Biao ambushes at the right 45 degrees, and Brown ambushes in the bottom corner.
Russell's shooting threat made Wendellcart Jr. choose to step forward to pinch the shot, Van der Bian cut inside to take away the flank defender, and Davis immediately went down quickly after fake cover, attracting Wagner Jr. to shrink and fill the defense, so Brown on the outside got a three-point open shot.
Very clear tactics.
But is this round a tactical subtlety for the Lakers? I think it's more of a defensive mistake on the part of the Magic.
Wendell Carter Jr. chose to step forward without reading Davis' cover form and cover position, and Banchero also made defensive mistakes - he didn't need to be as close as Van der Biao on the outside, and staying at the basket to help defend Davis' down was the best choice.
The Magic made two defensive errors in one round, which made it easy for the Lakers to get shots.
But even with a youth army like Magic, you can't expect them to make mistakes all the time:
The next round, the Magic's defensive picks were much smarter.
Although Wendell Carter still chose to steal while the Lakers were covering, Banqueiro stood inside to defend Davis this time - even if Russell was not knifed, this round could not form the same offensive opportunity as the previous round.
After the first offensive launch was broken, the Lakers' follow-up offense began to have problems - Russell threw the ball to Beasley on the weak side, but the Magic directly chose to change defenses, Beasley was obviously not prepared for this at all, so he had to pass back to Russell again - most of the offensive time was consumed at once.
Although there were no mistakes in this round, it actually reflected the problems of the Lakers' starting lineup - the Lakers' starting lineup, there are too few people who can handle the ball, whether it is the offensive initiation point, the offensive endpoint, and even the offensive method is too fixed and too easy to read.
Let's look at this starting lineup: Davis, Beasley are typical endpoints; Troy Brown and Vanderbilt have some setter abilities, but one has no breakaway threat and the other has no outside threat.
In this lineup, the real offensive initiation point is only Russell alone - even Russell's offensive initiation method is relatively fixed - most of the time it is blocking.
As a result, the offensive method of the Lakers' starting lineup is almost "playing cards" with the opponent.
Davis Russell arc top block, Banqueiro still contracted early, Davis outside - but Carter Jr. completely ignored him and just walked off the line.
Russell scored Beasley in the bottom corner, but Beasley's defender did not leave, he could not shoot or handle the ball, and could only pass back to Russell.
Russell passed to the thick eyebrow that was empty at the top of the arc, but Carter Jr. still did not come up, so the thick eyebrow dribbled and threw one.
Can I get in? Can enter.
But is this offense smooth? Has the purpose of "creating a high-quality mobile phone club" been achieved?
I think the answer is clearly no.
Keep looking.
It was another round to show Davis' poor game reading ability.
Russell Davis blocked, Russell again attracted the double bag, the ball was also given beautifully, Davis turned and dribbled the ball to attract Banqueiro's contraction - at this point he can choose to throw himself or choose to split Trail Brown on the right, both are good choices.
But instead, he chose to give Vanderbilt a slow, soft high hanging ball - directly leading to this round of dead ball.
Pass Vanderbilt, yes, then don't dribble that ball; One dribble, yes, then pass to Troy Brown on the right – unfortunately, Davis didn't make the right choice and reaction in this round.
Reading competitions are always AD's worst shortcoming.
And after the Magic came back, the Lakers' offense was even more sluggish:
This round, the Lakers' offensive intentions were completely predicted by the Magic - they no longer pinched Russell when blocking, but Carter directly sank into the thick eyebrows, while the weak side defenders followed Beasley very closely, easily bypassing Vanderbilt's cover.
The Lakers' offense, but that's it.
Back and forth is actually only Davis, Russell blocking, attracting the defensive weak side of such an offensive way - as long as Russell is a little released, sink the interception to Davis' passing route, and then find someone to die Beasley, what else can the Lakers do?
Can only be passed back to Russell again.....
Even the second half was exactly the same:
It's really hard to imagine that an NBA-level lineup has almost only one or two offensive initiation methods... (There is also a kind of thick eyebrow single)
Will it work? Of course it works, after all, Russell and Davis are top-paid All-Stars.
But will it work all the time? I think the plus or minus have already told us - other NBA teams are not fools, no matter how good they are, they can't let you repeatedly beat me to death with one move, right?
On the other hand, the Lakers' bench lineup and transition lineup tactical options are much richer.
Reeves, Schroeder, Russell three ball holding points, can do a lot of feints to involve the opponent's defensive formation, so that the opponent can not tell how to make a defense, but also easier to find the misalignment and the opponent's defensive weakness.
Like this round, the Lakers used Reeves and Schroder to block and feint twice, making the Magic mess up in the defense change and creating Russell's misalignment of Bitadze.
Keep looking:
This round is also a typical example, first Russell and Gabe blocked, although the mistake, but the snatching back is Reeves, who has the ability to handle the ball, he does not need to return the ball to Russell to reorganize, but can immediately read the defense himself, take advantage of the confusion of the opposing formation, and find empty teammates.
This round can be said to show the advantages of the three controls to the fullest. On the contrary, Beasley made a mistake on the field:
Beasley has shown some ball-carrying and blocking ability, but reading the game and handling the ball is still completely incomparable to the other three guards of the Lakers - even, I have a feeling that he has become more and more reckless and independent lately?
And when he loses on the offensive end, his defensive weaknesses will be more obvious:
The offensive end was tackled, and when he turned back, he was immediately beaten one-on-one by the opponent in the conversion, becoming a "breakthrough".
But to be fair, Beasley's problem with the Lakers is not easy to solve at the moment - this player, the biggest role is not to partner with Davis and Russell, and if you put him down the bench and partner with Schroder and Gabriel, his role and performance may continue to decline due to the reduced threat of ball carriers and cover, and shun.
Reeves is good, but for now, he's better suited to stay off the bench — not because Beasley is better than him, but because Beasley can only play as a starter. And Reeves' ability to handle the ball and make fouls is more suitable for the bench. (In the current Lakers)
(In fact, Reeves has played more than 30 minutes in the last two games, the Lakers' most playing time outside of AD and Russell, and he is already a "pseudo-starter.") ）
Moreover, the Lakers cannot abandon Beasley.
Because once the man in sunglasses on the bench returns, his and Beasley combination will be as invincible as King Arthur pulling out the sword in the stone - as the Lakers' only mobile battery, Beasley is the right choice for LeBron's "roll call tactics", and the importance of "roll call tactics" for higher-level games is self-evident.
It's important for shooters to keep them fit and confident — the Lakers can't and can't go to DNP Beasley and get Lonnie Walker on the court.
Keep up the patience, friends.
Expect Beasley not to be in the doldrums all the time, and expect Davis to be tougher — for now, this is the most realistic way to improve the strength of the Lakers' starting lineup.
If they can't do it, then expect Austin Reeves - the prince will look at it, Ning has a feeling?